The COVID crisis catalyses legal tech adoption among law firms

New ways of working post-COVID

The COVID crisis has had a major impact on the way legal professionals in law firms work with their colleagues, clients and in the courtroom. As per the new survey report Impact of the COVID Crisis on the Legal Sector by Wolters Kluwer (see Figure 1 below),

1. 52% of law firms indicate that they will work from home more in the future. 62% of legal professionals also say that they will increasingly collaborate remotely with colleagues and third parties going forward.
2. 66% of law firms report that they will improve the way they virtually/digitally communicate with clients.
3. Most respondents across Europe also see changes to the courtroom coming, with 41% expecting an acceleration of remote, virtual hearings as a new way to interact with judges in the future.

Top tech investments of law firms accelerated by the COVID crisis

Tools that support remote work and virtual collaboration have undoubtedly become crucial for business continuity and client service. It is no surprise that law firms plan to continue to invest in legal technology. In fact, in the same survey report, 56% of law firms in Europe indicate that their need for legal technology solutions has increased as a result of the COVID crisis and 65% report that their investment in legal solutions will stay the same or increase moving ahead.

The top technologies (see Figure 2) law firms said they are looking to invest in are tools to assist with:

• e-signature: 63%
• e-meeting and e-voting management: 46%
• document and contract workflow management: 40%
• workflow management and process automation: 34%
• analysis of regulatory and case law trends to predict results of claims: 32%